Russian prosecutors have asked for eight-year prison terms for the two main suspects in organizing the mass unrest at the 2012 rally against alleged violations at parliamentary elections.

Sergey Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev are standing trial for
organizing the mass riots that have already resulted in several
convictions and sentences, as well as one court order of
compulsory psychiatric treatment.

According to investigators, the head of the unregistered
political movement Leftist Front, Udaltsov, and his aide,
Razvozzhayev, prepared and provoked the clashes between
protesters and the police and also planned to repeat the riots in
other parts of the Russian Federation. They also claim that the
operation was ordered and finance by Georgian politician Givi
Targamadze, described by the mass media as leading expert in the
so-called ‘color revolutions’ – street protests against allegedly
undemocratic steps of the authorities that lead to quick change
of the political regime.

Russia’s top law enforcement agency, the Investigative Committee
has made public a video record of the two suspects meeting with
Targamadze in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, and discussing the
details of their operation in Russia. The committee also started
a criminal case against the Georgian politician, but so far
cannot bring him to justice because he prefers not to enter
Russia.

Udaltsov at first denied ever meeting Targamadze, then changed
his plea and said that he only met him to discuss some common
projects in the liquor business. He also said that the meeting
with Targamadze had been organized by Leftist Front activist
Konstantin Lebedev, and Razvozzhayev had only driven them from
Moscow to Minsk.

However, Lebedev’s testimony asserts that the investigators are
using as another key piece of evidence. He has entered a plea
deal and received a sentence of two-and-a-half years, which was
consumed almost completely by the pre-trial custody period. In
early May, Lebedev was released.

Razvozzhayev remains in pre-trial custody, while Udaltsov is
under house arrest.

The maximum punishment for the crime of organizing mass unrest
that results in violence or destruction of property is 10 years
behind bars.